for 4 octaves handbells and solo trombone (or euphonium)
A Taizé-style original piece. Trombone part more difficult than the handbell part. Dedicated to Janet Lott.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~3 min.
composed in 2008; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for 5 octaves handbells with optional flute and optional organ or C3-E3 handchimes
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“Alleluia Sotto Voce” is written in the Taizé style: a simple melody that repeats many times with slight variations in accompaniment, creating an ethereal, meditative feeling. “Alleluia Sotto Voce” uses those musical ideas of Taizé, taking a simple 3-measure phrase and building different accompaniments and countermelodies on top of it before deconstructing it and returning to the simple, 3-measure phrase.
AGEHR Level: 2+
Time: ~4 min.
Published in 2008 by From the Top Music
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for bell tree solo, handbell duet or handbell trio with piano
An original bell tree solo; can also be played as normal duet or trio.
Time: ~2 min.
Published in 2009 by Flagstaff Publishing
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for 5-7 octaves handbells and 1 octave tuned percussion or Petit & Fritsen handbells, with optional marching machine, anvil, or other percussion
2005 Bells of the Sound Composition Contest Winner
Inspired by the iron and steel factories in the Russian city of Cherepovets, “Comrades, Haste!” evokes a 1960s-era Soviet-bloc industrial sound. In creating that ambiance, “Comrades, Haste!” also includes opportunities for both tuned percussion and untuned percussion — an anvil, a marching machine, and whatever other ideas the performers have.
Premiered by the Bells of the Sound, April 23, 2005; Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland, Wa.
AGEHR Level: 5
Time: ~4½ min.
Published in 2006 by Above the Line Publishing
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for 4-5 octaves of handbells
“Cumulonimbus: A vertically developed cumulus cloud, often capped by an anvil shaped cloud. Also called a thunderstorm cloud, it is frequently accompanied by heavy showers, lightning, thunder, and sometimes hail or gusty winds.” If this definition doesn’t give you an idea of what this original composition holds, then visit Iowa in tornado season! 104 measures are filled with techniques, meter changes, and dynamic shifts.
AGEHR Level: 4+
Time: ~3 min.
Published in 2005 by GIA Publications
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for handbell soloist (4 octaves) and harp or piano in four movements
Liechtenstein is one of the smallest independent countries in the world, covering an area smaller than Staten Island and containing less than 40,000 residents. There are 11 municipalities in all of Liechtenstein, the four southernmost of which make up the four short movements of the modern handbell/harp (or piano) duet “Die vier Städte von Südliechtenstein” (“The Four Cities of Southern Liechtenstein”). The four cities and their defining characteristics have influenced the creation of each movement: Triesen, home of a historic weaving mill; Balzers, which borders the Rhine River; Triesenberg, whose residents use a dialect of German spoken nowhere else; and Vaduz, the capital and most populous municipality of Liechtenstein (with just over 5000 residents).
Premiered by Michèle Sharik and Marshall Bessières, July 6, 2008; The Walden School, Dublin, N.H.
Time: ~9 min.
composed in 2006; contact Matthew Prins for information
for SATB choir or congregation
A hymn for congregational singing.
Time: ~2 min.
arranged in 2005; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for 2-3 octaves handbells
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This original piece uses just about every technique known to the handbell world… and is still musical enough to ring in concert or church!
AGEHR Level: 2
Time: ~2½ min.
Published in 2010 by Composers Music
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for 4-5 octaves handbells
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This is an emotionally intense original work that will benefit from good ringing techniques. A single line melody expands to a two-note chord and then into vibrant chords. Support is provided by almost constant eighth note patterns and tolling bass notes. The challenge for ringers will be keeping these elements in balance. Rhythms are easy; tonality moves from E to D Major and back, and there are frequent accidentals just to keep everybody alert. This original, sweeping composition is 103 measures.
AGEHR Level: 3+
Time: ~5 min.
Published in 2010 by Flagstaff Publishing
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for 2-3 octaves handbells
A fast, spirited original piece that uses marts, mart lifts, malletting and echoes.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~2 min.
to be published in 2011 or 2012
for 2-4 octaves handbells or handbell trio, quartet, or quintet
A meditatative handbell piece that lets the bells ring from beginning to end — the bells don’t damp until the very last note. Last page gives playing instructions to perform as a handbell trio, quartet, or quintet with various levels of difficulty.
Premiered by the Bells of Dundee, January 27, 2008; First Congregational Church of Dundee, West Dundee, Ill.
AGEHR Level: 2+
Time: ~2 min.
Published in 2008 by High Meadow Music Publishing
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for 5-7 octaves handbells
Extremely exciting, extremely difficult work that evokes a coming storm.
AGEHR Level: 6
Time: ~5 min.
arranged in 2010; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for bell tree solo, handbell duet or handbell trio with piano
An original bell tree solo; can also be played as normal duet or trio.
Time: ~2 min.
Published in 2009 by Flagstaff Publishing
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for 3 or 5 octaves handbells and much, much unpitched percussion
A jazzy piece about, yes, taxes that uses four percussions who take turns as a finger snapper, paper ripper, paper crumbler, typist, scribbler, paper-shredding-machine operator, stack-of-paper-against-head hitter, crumbled-paper thrower, clappers, stompers, and number stater.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~3 min.
to be published in 2012
for 3-6 octaves handbells and optional 3 or 5 octaves handchimes
An original piece that was named the winner of the Feb Fest 2011 Composition Contest, sponsored by the Greater Houston Handbell Association. Piece was premiered at Feb Fest 2011 on Feburary 25, 2011, with Lloyd Larson conducting.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~4 min.
to be published in 2011
for handbell trio (2 octaves)
A short, fast, relatively easy handbell trio; some 3 against 2 adds interest.
Time: ~1 min.
composed in 2004; contact Matthew Prins for information
for SATB chorus and 3-5 octaves handbells
A new, somber setting of the classic Latin Christmas text. Lots of mixed meter, but at a very slow tempo. Handbells are played entirely mallet-suspended.
Premiered by the Memorial Choir and Memorial Bells, December 12, 2006; Memorial Lutheran Church, Ames, Ia.
Time: ~3 min.
composed in 2006; contact Matthew Prins for information
for 2-3 octaves or 3-5 octaves handbells (compatible scores)
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An enjoyable original piece written in honor of one of the unheralded men who rode with Paul Revere that fateful night. Compatible scores makes it a good selection for festivals.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~3 min.
Published in 2009 by From the Top Music
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for TTBB choir and piano
A joyous original work for men’s choir and piano.
Time: ~3 min.
arranged in 2005; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for SSA chorus and harp or piano
A new melody set to Edward Caswall’s 19th-century Christmas lyrics.
Time: ~2½ min.
composed in 2006; contact Matthew Prins for information
for 5-7 octaves handbells and handchimes, string orchestra and piano in 12 movements
A large-scale, multi-instrument work composed about London’s subway system, with each movement developing a different Tube line. Audio recording to come.
AGEHR Level: 5
Time: ~27 min.
to be published in 2011
for 5 octaves of handbells, 2 octaves of handchimes, and piano in 3 movements
honorable mention, 2006 SoundPrint Handbell Composition Contest
A musical representation of the only two numbers known as “sublime numbers,” as well as detailing the search for a third sublime number.
AGEHR Level: 6+
Time: ~10 min.
Published in 2007 by ring-Press, but currently out of print; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for 5-7 octaves handbells and solo vocalist
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A fantasy arrangement of the Christmas standard “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” “The World in Solemn Stillness Lay” sets and maintains a mood with the use of random ringing, singing bells and a haunting vocal line. The arrangement makes use of multiple meter throughout with major sections in 5/4, 4/4 and 3/4. At times, the piece is very transparent and at others very complex with as many as four simultaneous lines.
Premiered by the Austin Handbell Ensemble, December 15, 2006; Austin, Tx.
AGEHR Level: 4-
Time: ~9 min.
Published in 2008 by Peal Publishing
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for SA choir and 3-5 octaves handbells with optional 3-4 octaves handchimes
Setting of Christina Rossetti’s advent poem of the same name. Some meter changes, particularly in the handbell part, but relatively easy otherwise.
Time: ~3½ min.
arranged in 2009; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for 2 octaves handbells
Wonderfully refreshing, this original work is in three movements: “Let Peace Reign,” “Reflection and Meditation,” and “Postlude for Ordinary Time.” The movements can be presented as a suite or rung individually. Each piece has an optional repeat which extends the time of these joyous works.
AGEHR Level: 2+
Time: ~2 min. each
Published in 2009 by GIA Publications
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for 3-5 octaves handbells
Dreams can often incorporate the ambient sounds of the world around the dreamer. “Three O’clock Fantasie” takes the music of a clock striking three o’clock and re-imagines it through a dreamlike state.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~3 min.
Published in 2006 by Above the Line Publishing
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for SATB choir or congregation
A hymn for congregational singing.
Time: ~2 min.
arranged in 2005; contact Matthew Prins for more information
for handbells C3 to C5 (eight players)
An atmospheric, amelodic work that is built entirely on long notes played using the singing bell technique and mallet-rolling suspended bells. Follows the guidelines of the burgeoning miniaturist genre: no more than 100 notes are played during the entire piece.
AGEHR Level: 3
Time: ~3 min.
composed in 2008; contact Matthew Prins for information
for a capella SATB choir
An original choral lament based on Psalm 88 (KJV).
Time: ~4 min.
composed in 2006; contact Matthew Prins for information